Debriefed
by Shelamnia
Summary: The retrieval went fine. The debriefing did not.
1. Chapter 1

AN: _**Contains mature content**_, is somewhat AU. Read at your discretion.

(By mature content, I mean references to rape and sex. Please do not read if you are uncomfortable with these topics.)

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><p>Wolf carefully picked the lock outside the target. It was a sneak operation, not unlike the one at Point Blanc Academy, forcing Wolf to pick locks instead of melting them open. This lock was tricky, though, and used up precious minutes. It clearly designed to <em>not<em> be picked. Of course, it was for that reason the SAS practiced on them.

"Wolf..." Eagle murmured quietly. "It's nearly been a minute." Normally, Wolf only required about forty seconds for this kind, but his hands were vibrating in anticipation of what was inside. The picks seemed to dance before him.

"I know, I know," he muttered back.

"Someone's coming!" Snake hissed quietly. He stood beside Eagle, facing the corridor. The other two SAS men were facing the other direction. Their guns held tranquilizers, as it was only an in-out operation with no intended casualties - they were to retrieve the head of the organization, uninjured and alive. MI6's liaison showed them pictures of the target, informing them that there was no audio available. The target was a man, blond with a chiseled face and muscular arms and a particularly noticeable bulge at his crotch. Wolf and the others were told to stun this man and bring him back.

_For questioning_, said MI6.

_To make an example_, thought Wolf. Then MI6 added that if Wolf, Snake, or Eagle saw anyone they knew - most likely Fox, Wolf assumed - they were to retrieve them, too.

Wolf muttered something indistinctly about pressure in this kind of situation to Eagle when the lock clicked open. The five men scrambled into the room faster than eggs would in a blender.

MI6 already had layouts of the room, right down to the toiletries strewn across the desk. The room itself wasn't luxurious by many standards. Small, with plain walls. To be used for dressing and sleeping. An adjacent room held a small bathroom.

Wolf's attention immediately went to the bed on the far wall. It was, unlike the rest of the room, grand and gigantic. The white sheets and translucent canopy were lit by a pasty moon in the window behind it. Having disabled many of the security measures along the way, it would be their escape route. After all, they'd have a body.

The man beside Wolf let out a sigh of relief. The target was still asleep, slightly visible through the veil-like canopy, and the footsteps in the hallway hadn't quickened with alarm. Out of habit, the SAS men moved to the walls of the room, slowly approaching the bed. The the unconscious silhouette was motionless.

The footsteps stopped suddenly outside of the room. Wolf swallowed. Normally, people ran when they anticipated danger to protect or to hide.

"Oh, _my_," a voice outside sang loudly. "I heard you running about." Wolf's breath hitched as the door started to open. "Are you ready for some more _fun_ now?"

The poor man didn't stand a chance. Eagle wisely shot the man before the man even registered the strangers in his room. He toppled over easily.

Wolf winced. Landing on tranqs was not something Wolf had enjoyed in training. They left bruises like toddlers leave messes.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Wolf noticed Snake looked perturbed. Of course, Wolf felt slightly awkward as well, but he was professional about it and ignored the feeling for the time being. Still...

The now-knocked-out newcomer was naked. And well-endowed.

Wolf smirked. Eagle also noticed Snake's disgruntled expression, and - rather unprofessionally, in Wolf's opinion - muttered, "Feeling jealous?" Usually, they had to be silent, but the figure on the bed hadn't so much as twitched at the louder man's call. Team bonding wasn't a terrible thing, though, so Wolf let it go.

"No, not at all," Snake murmured, to a disbelieving snort from one of the other SAS men. "Is he who I think he is?"

Wolf looked down at the man.

Blond, chiseled features, bulky...

Large penis...

"Yeah, he's the target," Wolf confirmed quietly. He could tell even in the poor lighting.

"So, who's on the bed?" one of the other SAS men asked.

No one answered verbally - Snake shrugged before motioning to Eagle help him carry the unclothed body.

Carefully, Wolf pulled back the canopy. It felt like silk under his fingers, and swished like ripple. Wolf wrinkled his nose at the sickeningly sweet smell of sex. It appeared whoever this character was, she was romantically involved with the man. Or he, Wolf supposed, but he doubted it.

The figure under the sheets was still surprisingly small, and the pillow was pulled over her head. Wolf motioned to the SAS man across from him who'd also opened the canopy to be prepared to shoot the sleeper. Very carefully, Wolf removed the pillow. He blinked twice, then signaled for the other SAS soldier to lower his gun.

It was Cub. Or Alex, as he'd learned on a different mission at Point Blanc. The side of his face was pressed into the mattress while facing Wolf, and his mouth was slightly ajar with a milky white substance dribbling out. The white sheet covered him up to his shoulder. Delicately, in an attempt to avoid waking the child, Wolf pulled back the sheet to reveal a mess of faded and fresh bruises, bite marks, and a sticky white splatter on the boy's chest.

Wolf didn't need or want to pull the sheet back any further. He'd seen enough to know Cub had been up to some night activities for quite some time, judging by some of the faded bruises. And he'd seen enough to know that Cub, like the man he'd been sleeping with, was also stark naked.

"Guys?" he asked quietly. Snake and Eagle appeared at the foot of the bed. They had dropped their cargo to the floor for a moment to look closely at the still soundly sleeping spectacle. The other two SAS men stood across from Wolf.

"Mother-fucker..." Eagle muttered. Snake elbowed him, but neither bothered to tear their gaze from the new development: Cub.

Wolf glanced at them before pulling the sheet back up to the kid's neck. "What do we do?"

"We have a few minutes," Snake pointed out. "I say we wake him and assess his loyalties and mental state."

One of the other SAS men suggested, "We should just shoot him and ask later. Carry him. He looks light enough."

Wolf glanced between the men. He was in charge. "We'll wake him and find out what his relationship is with the target. Then we shoot him, regardless."

The soldier with the shoot-now-ask-questions-later plan nodded and pointed his gun at Cub's back.

"Cub?" Wolf asked quietly. He placed a securing hand on the boy's shoulder. "Cub?"

Cub blinked as if his world were moving much more slowly than reality. It seemed to speed up as he realised Wolf was in front of him.

"Wolf?"

"It's me, Cub. We're here to get you out."

Cub blinked, nearly expressionless. "Where's Tarel?"

"The target?" Wolf asked.

"Yeah."

"Out cold."

Cub nodded. Wolf couldn't help but think this was just about the most awkward conversation he'd ever had. Cub didn't seem to agree - despite his distinct lack of clothing and disheveled state, he seemed perfectly at ease with talking to Wolf. Then Cub rolled onto his back and sat up partway, letting the sheet stick to his chest. Snake and Eagle had - at some point, Wolf wasn't sure - hefted the target between them in anticipation of their exit through the window. "Tarel?" he asked, quietly. His voice and face expressed concern.

_No, _Wolf thought, _he was raped. This isn't right. Cub was raped, but he's concerned about the rapist?...  
><em>

"Cub, you were raped, right?" he asked quietly.

"No," the boy replied. "Will Tarel be okay?"

"Yes," Wolf answered, not quite sure what to say now. The kid had been sleeping _willingly_ with the target? "Did MI6 put you up to this?"

"No, not this," Cub replied, once again, not in his own favor.

Just as Wolf was about to ask another question, the other SAS man fired his tranquilizer. It hit Cub in the chest. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he fell back onto the mattress.

"He wasn't on our side," the soldier explained. "That much was clear."

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><p>AN: Joy. Confusion g'lore - that is, <em>galore<em>. Kind of like 'glamorous gore' mushed together. But don't worry, there's none of that coming.

Got a new word on this story? Smack it to me.


	2. Chapter 2

"Yes, ma'am, that is what he said."

Mrs. Jones gave Wolf a doubtful look. Eagle shifted beside him, and Snake subtly kicked Eagle under the desk. The things Wolf put up with!

His attention, briefly drawn to the other two present, was brought back to the second-in-command's voice. "So, summarily speaking, Alex asked after Tarel. He denied being raped. Then he stated that we did not put him up to the task of seducing the target."

"Yes, ma'am."

Mrs. Jones nodded. Wolf couldn't help but notice a faint crease between her eyebrows. She was stressed out for sure if such emotion slipped through. Wolf patiently waited for the dismissal, but to his surprise, it didn't come.

"Wolf, we would like you three to assist with... Alex's debriefing. You will be paid extra, of course." It looked like the words were lemon-flavored to her. She popped a mint into her mouth and awaited Wolf's response.

Wolf blinked. "Ma'am, with all due respect, I feel that K-Unit and Alex do not have the best of relationships."

Mrs. Jones nodded, as if she were expecting the response. She probably was. "You would not have any contact with Alex. You would only be watching through a surveillance camera. We ask that you look for any discrepancies in his testimony, that you formulate questions for our agent to ask, and that, in the case Alex lashes out, you interfere."

Wolf looked at his teammates, the two who knew Alex from training. Snake dipped his head once, and Eagle inclined his chin slightly. _Yes_. Wolf looked at Mrs. Jones. It was easy money, after all.

"We'll do it."

* * *

><p>Alex glared at Ben. He'd already stated three times over what Tarel had told him, and he wasn't afraid to say so. "I told you the location three times already. I told you when and where the plans were supposed to take place. Aren't you going to verify it? I'm sure you have better things to do than ask me the same things over and over again."<p>

Ben's face had been a mask while asking him who, what, when, where, how, and why repeatedly. He had only asked questions. Alex got the distinct feeling that the questions were carefully calculated and whispered to Ben through the earpiece he was wearing.

Alex didn't like the room - it gave him the creeps. The walls were white, and the door was plain. There was a single black table between Ben and him, lit by a naked bulb between and above their heads. Alex was sitting on a simple metal folding chair, his arms folded on the table. He was leaning forward slightly. Someone had dressed him in a plain gray t-shirt and slightly-darker gray sweatpants while he had been unconscious. When he'd awoken, Ben had brought him from a cell similar to the one he encountered after being caught with Scorpia to this interrogation room and closed the door. Alex slumped further at the thought.

Ben, on the other hand, was sitting ramrod straight. He stared intently at Alex. Unlike their time together on the Snakehead mission, Ben was acting distant and unfriendly. Almost like a robot, in Alex's opinion.

"Alex," Ben began. Unlike when he asked, "What happened after Tarel moved you to his bedroom?" and "What did he do to you?", Ben hesitated. Alex couldn't figure out why Ben had felt the need to rephrase the question and walk him through the interrogation multiple times, but he waited for another repeat. This time, however, Ben gave him some information. "I'm asking you the same questions to make sure you have your story straight."

Alex rolled his eyes and rested his cheek on his elbows. Ben's face turned sideways, but his expression didn't change. "I'm not lying. It's entirely unnecessary."

"Still, you wouldn't tell me what you and Tarel did in the bed where Wolf and the others found you."

Alex blushed, again. He'd reddened every time Ben had asked. "That's none of your business. It has nothing to do with the mission. Tarel told me what I told you. That's all that matters."

Ben closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "It's very important to MI6 to know their agents' activities."

It wasn't a question. Alex didn't answer it.

"Alex?" Ben was looking at him again, blank-faced yet coldly. That was the last straw. Alex had had it with MI6. He stood up carefully from where he sat and looked Ben straight in the eye. The folding chair screeched angrily as it was pushed back.

"No. I'm done. I gave you what MI6 wanted: information. I don't have anything else to say to you."

Ben lowered his gaze to the table. He seemed reluctant. "Alex..."

"What?"

"MI6 is questioning your loyalty."

Alex half-smiled. It was some kind of a joke, right? "You're kidding me. Why would I lie to you?"

Ben's look hardened at Alex's flippant attitude. "MI6 believes you may have been romantically involved with Tarel."

With a huff, Alex plopped down into the folding chair and crossed his arms. He leaned back, frustrated. "I can assure you that I did _not_ like him. At all."

"Why not?"

"He humiliated me. Repeatedly."

Ben nodded once. "Did he threaten you?"

"Yes."

"Did he rape you?"

"No."

"Did you have sex with him?"

"No."

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><p>Eagle, Wolf, and Snake were sitting in a small room adjacent to Ben and Alex's room. Eagle, being particularly verbal, was formulating the questions and telling Ben what he should ask. Snake was looking through the medical evidence and half-listening to the audio provided by the cameras. Wolf was watching and listening to the conversation.<p>

There were three hidden cameras in the interrogation. One watched both of them from the side, showing the door. One focused on Alex. The other could be moved around to look at anything. At the moment, it was watching Fox - or Ben, as they'd recently found out.

"_Did you have sex with him?_" the digital Ben asked Alex.

"_No._" Wolf took a deep breath. The kid was digging himself a grave.

It was a blatant lie. Wolf had found the kid - he knew what he'd seen. Semen dribbling from his mouth, hickeys all over... Wolf couldn't help but wonder if Cub really worked for MI6. After all, he was withholding the truth about their relationship.

"Ask if he was drugged," Eagle said into a microphone positioned in the middle of the table. He was leafing through the papers next to Snake, who was jotting down notes for him.

"_Were you drugged at any point?_"

"_No. Well, not until Wolf showed up and tranq-ed me._"

Wolf put his hand on his forehead and squeezed his temples methodically. They were trying to find ways for the kid to show he was loyal or to show he'd been tricked or... something. Something to show that he wasn't romantically involved with Tarel or that he wasn't lying. Cub just didn't get it. He kept denying his and Tarel's relationship, leading to suspicion cast on his alliances.

Snake piped up for the first time in a while. "Tell him that the doctors found semen in his mouth and anus. See what he says."

That was news to Wolf. There was medical evidence that they'd had sex. Did the kid just not get it? He aimed the third camera at Cub's face.

"_The doctors found semen in your mouth and anus, Alex._"

The digital version of Cub looked bored. He didn't so much as flinch at the news. He didn't say anything. He just stared at Fox as if to say, "And?"

Wolf furrowed his eyebrows, looking at Cub's face. He didn't seemed perturbed as he should be - he'd just been proven wrong. A traitor would be more nervous for sure.

"The hell?" Eagle muttered, frustrated. "Is he an idiot?"

Snake seemed to be at a loss for words. "Uh, Fox, ask... ask if... um..."

Wolf studied the youthful face of Cub. It was relaxed, though perhaps slightly embarrassed. His fair hair was skimming his eyebrows - maybe covering some teenage acne. Full lips, curled downward. Straight nose. A normal-looking, everyday teenager.

Kid. Teenager. Youthful. Cub. Wolf blanched.

All titles given to the young.

_It couldn't be_...

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><p>AN: I'm certain you know what's going on. I'm fairly sure you know what's gonna happen.<p>

But hey - why not let me know you know? Then I'll know you know and you'll know I know you know and then I'll know you know I know you know... oh, _no_.

Better interrupt quickly with that 'Review' button there.


	3. Chapter 3

Wolf volunteered his first question for the interrogation, twisting in his seat to face the microphone. Eagle raised his eyebrows as he started speaking. "Ask if he knows what sex is."

Snake perked up at the question. "Of course! If Cub's never had 'The Talk', he's accidentally lying!"

It was true. Perhaps Alex just didn't know what sex was - maybe he'd only heard it out of context. Wolf was suddenly glad he was in the backroom. He moved the camera so he could see Fox's face - the poor operative blinked a few times before asking. Snake's exclamation blocked out the question, but Wolf knew what it was.

Just as Snake finished, Fox finished his question. The silence in the backroom was just in time to hear Alex say, "_Yes_."

"Shit," Eagle muttered. "Now what?"

Wolf ignored him. He didn't believe Cub. "Ask him what it is."

"Wolf..." Snake asked warningly. The fair-haired man's accent was more pronounced than usual. Wolf took to mean the man was embarrassed. He wasn't the only one, for sure.

Fox actually fidgeted before voicing the new question.

Cub stared at him for a moment, then looked down, blushing. He muttered something indistinct.

"_I'm sorry, what was that?_"

"_I said,_" the digital Alex muttered, slightly more audibly, "_that sex is what happens when a man and a woman love each other_."

"More detail," Wolf ordered. Fox complied.

"What's the point, Wolf?" Eagle asked, curiously.

Wolf bit his lower lip. It wasn't like he _wanted_ to ask Cub if he knew the ins and outs of sex - literally or figuratively speaking. "We need to establish that he would know if he was raped. If he doesn't know he was raped, he would say he hadn't been raped."

Eagle opened his mouth, forming a very round 'O'. Then he snapped his jaw shut, not unlike a nutcracker. After a moment of silence - both from the interrogation room, once Fox relayed the order for more detail, and from the backroom where Snake and Eagle were stunned - Eagle forged a strained smile onto a steel mask.

Then he said calmly, "Ah. Well, we'll just have to see what Cub says, won't we?"

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><p>Alex glared at the table. He didn't look at Ben as he answered the embarrassing question. "I said that sex is what happens when a man and woman love each other." Then he looked up to see the other man's reaction, but there was none - at least not to his answer. It seemed the next question was more awkward for Ben to ask.<p>

Alex saw Ben fidget before the older of the two asked, "Could you give more detail?"

Alex took a deep, calming breath. This was moving beyond awkward into - into - some realm Alex would bet even Tom couldn't find a name for. He wanted out. "No way. I'm done. I'm leaving." To punctuate his sentence, he stood and walked to the door.

The lock jingled merrily as Alex twisted the handle repeatedly. It wouldn't open.

Alex wheeled around glared at Ben. "Let me out."

"I can't - not until we're done. Please answer the question, Alex. What is sex?"

"Fuck you!" Alex hissed angrily. He back-kicked the door as hard as he could, twisting around and expelling all his embarrassment and frustration at once. The door didn't even strain against his force. Instead, he only bounced off with a sore limb.

"Alex, please answer the quest-"

"Shut _up_, Ben. Let me go." Ben was still acting like a robot. He'd obviously been instructed to say these things to Alex, though now his eyes had a slightly warmer, pitying look.

Alex didn't like it.

Ben stared at him and very calmly began to repeat himself. "Alex, please answer the question. I can't let you go until we're done."

"No!" Alex said to him, loudly and clearly while balancing on his uninjured foot. "I'm not talking about this with you, and I'm certainly not going to listen to you!"

"Why, Alex?" Ben asked, his expression changing for the first time. He looked... _concerned_. Like someone Alex could trust. "Is it because you're afraid of what you'll hear? I think you know what I'm getting at."

"No!" Alex shouted. Then he realised that he had just proven Ben's point. By consistently avoiding the question of the nature of sex, Ben was exposing Alex's desires to avoid talking about sex. It made him seem like he was scared of talking about it.

Reluctantly, Alex muttered quietly, "Sex is when a guy shoves his penis into a girl's vagina." Alex was certain he resembled a beet. A bright red, possibly purple beet.

"Exactly, Alex," Ben confirmed. He was blushing as well. "Do you know what rape is?"

"Forced sex."

"Right again." Ben paused for a moment to let the information Alex had produced sink in. "Did you know there are different forms of sex?"

Alex raised a hand to his forehead. In truth, he didn't know. However, he also did not want Ben - an MI6 agent, of all people! - to tell him exactly what it was.

"If I answer your questions, will you let me go?"

Ben's concerned expression melted into something near pity. He glanced toward the adjacent wall and adjusted his earpiece. "Yes. Yes, I will let you go, if you want to."

Alex rolled his eyes. "Any reason I wouldn't want to go?"

"Possibly. The question was if you know about alternative forms of sex." Ben looked him in the eyes as he spoke. Ben's eyes that seemed to hold more knowledge than Alex. They were looking down on him. It pissed off Alex to no end. Just because he was younger or didn't know what Ben was going on about did _not_ mean he could look at him like that!

"Yes." Alex turned around, crossed his arms, and faced the door as he muttered the second part of his answer. "Hell, yes, I do."

If Alex had been looking at Ben, he would have seen the real agent's face contort as if in pain. But even so, Ben's voice as level as a balanced lever. "What's oral sex, Alex?"

Alex swallowed, his mind floundering like fish out of water. "Oral sex? It's, um, sex." Students took orals in Spanish and French. Oral had to do with speaking, then. "Sex that's spoken."

Again, if Alex had been facing Ben, he would have seen Ben's increasingly obvious discontent and discomfort. But still he faced the wall. "What's anal sex, Alex?"

Anal... Alex had heard that word before. Tom had told him off for opening his presents slowly - Alex had gotten out an knife to cut the tape so that he could keep the wrapping paper. What was it Tom had said? _No need to be so anal when opening Christmas presents, Alex. You can just throw the paper away._

Alex thought quickly. "Anal sex is when the partners are really precise about it."

A long pause. Alex wondered if Ben was trying to figure out what to say. In a way, he was right - only that Ben wasn't the one thinking up the questions. But it wasn't long before the backroom Alex knew nothing of produced another question.

"And gay sex?"

Alex froze. He was certain Ben could see the rigidity his posture had taken on. He could only think two words, over and over.

No way.

_No way_.

Alex's voice cracked as he answered, stalling for time. "You don't mean happy sex, do you, by any chance?" He licked his lips trying to reconcile the new information he had.. Alex knew what 'gay' meant, and he knew what 'sex' meant. But Ian had only ever talked about sex as being between opposite genders. It was anatomically impossible for two men to have sex.

Unless... unless they did what he and Tarel had done.

Substitute a mouth for a vagina.

Or an anus.

Oral.

_Anal_.

"No," Alex answered his own question. "No way. Ben, what did Tarel do to me?" Alex could hear the hysteria rising in his voice, but he couldn't stop it. It was building. He shouted at the door, "What did he _do_ to me?"

Alex whipped around and looked to Ben for the answers. He knew his expression must've resembled a recently widowed wife's at a funeral. Ben's face was full of pity, but Alex didn't care at the moment. The voice he had heard every day of his life - his own - sounded distant and foreign. It wasn't his voice that asked in a shallow, whisper-y, feeble tone, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Alex, I-"

"No!" Alex shouted suddenly. He couldn't explain what he was feeling, but somehow he couldn't believe it. "You're lying to me! You - you're _tricking_ me!" Ben stood up, hands open and with a calming demeanor. It didn't help.

"Stop!" Alex yelled as loudly as he could. "_Stop_!" Irrationally, lost in his anger, he lunged at Ben, grasping his collar. They toppled over the chair and toppled the chair over. "_Tell me you're lying_!"

In the adjacent room, three soldiers moved to intervene.

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><p>AN:I do want to cover my bases with this chapter. The rating of M says that "Not suitable for children or teens below the age of 16 with possible strong but non-explicit adult themes, references to violence, and strong coarse language." By definition, "explicit" means "stated clearly and in detail, leaving no room for confusion or doubt".<p>

I want to stress that this fic involves the adult themes of sex and rape, but it's not explicitly performed by the characters. That's how I'm declaring that this fic only has "strong but non-explicit adult themes". While the act of sex is mentioned and defined, it leaves room for "confusion" about how it happens and exactly what tends to go on before and after sex - that is, sex is not covered completely and is therefore non-explicit. Same goes for rape.

But anyway...

_Ben: What is sex? Alex: Fuck you!_ Get it? Get it?

It's not that funny, I suppose. Oh well.

Enter Wolf next chapter! Yay!

Though, I think it'd be funny if you liked this but didn't review... funny as in strange, _not_ humorous._  
><em>


	4. Chapter 4

Wolf carefully listened to Cub's response - rather, his lack of it. Fox had just asked Cub what sex was, much to everyone's embarrassment. "_No way. I'm done. I'm leaving_," Cub replied.

It was understandable. When Wolf had been a teenager, he'd been equally if not more reluctant to talk about sex with his parents - forget telling strangers or other older men about what he knew or didn't know. His parents had sat him down one day and told him everything they could. Wolf had _not_ enjoyed the experience, but now he had to know what Cub knew.

"Don't let him go - not until we're certain he knows what rape is and the forms it can take," Wolf ordered Fox. Dutifully, Fox relayed the orders.

Cub was desperate to escape this questioning. It was obvious in his continual avoidance of the question. He told Fox off repeatedly. Then Fox did something that no one in the room suggested: emotional manipulation.

Wolf watched in something near awe as Fox removed his blank mask for the first time that evening. 'Concerned' was the only way to describe his expression; Wolf couldn't tell if it was real.

Sure, Fox had been professional in training, but he didn't strike Wolf as a particularly deep or empathetic character. He'd been kind. He'd been easy to work with. But he'd never shown any of his teammates direct _concern_. That's why Wolf found the expression difficult to read: it was alien.

His train of thought crashed as he listened to Fox's manipulative words. "_Is it because you're afraid of what you'll hear? I think you know what I'm getting at._" Fox was making non-answers reflect cowardice. For most people, such an accusation would force them to answer.

Perhaps that was why he was in MI6.

Eagle spoke softly, covering the microphone with one hand. He, like Wolf had noticed Fox's unusual display. "Is he... really...?"

Wolf shrugged.

Snake drew a hand up to his chin, staring at Fox pensively. He nodded. "I think so. I don't think he could fake that."

Wolf had only half-listened, hearing Cub's correct response. At raised eyebrows, Eagle dropped his hand and Wolf fed the next question. "Ask if he knows what rape is."

The topic having been broached, the answer came far more easily. "Alternative sex," Wolf prompted.

"_Did you know there are different forms of sex?_"

Wolf watched Cub like a hawk would a mouse. He covered his face, but not before Wolf caught his expression.

Faintly fearful embarrassment.

"_If I answer your questions, will you let me go?_"

Fox answered affirmatively. Cub stalled. He even faced the door as he answered in the affirmative - that he did know other forms of sex existed.

Snake commented, "He doesn't have a clue. It's obvious."

"Yeah," Eagle agreed.

Wolf glanced at Fox's face. He could see now that the concern from before had been genuine. He looked pained at the backroom's comments. Strangely, Wolf felt a nostalgic cloud surround him at Fox's face. It reminded him of when his parents had heard about his being bullied long ago. Fox mirrored his father. He surmised that Fox must feel fatherly towards Cub. Still, he had a job - and it wasn't to deduce relationships.

"Ask Cub about oral sex," Wolf said simply. "Then anal." It matched the evidence.

"Move the camera," Eagle suggested. "Get Cub's face."

Snake nodded and moved to the controls. He moved the camera in the ceiling so that Cub's face was magnified. Cub's agitation was increasingly apparent. "_Sex that's spoken._" Then, "_Anal sex is when the partners are really precise about it._"

Wolf would have laughed at Cub's guesses if the situation hadn't been so grave.

"Tell him he's wrong," Eagle ordered. Clear and straightforward as always.

Instantly, Snake disagreed. "No, wait - he won't believe you. We can't just tell him he's wrong - we need proof."

Eagle snorted. "What do you want Fox to do? Rape him?"

"Of course not!"

"Then we need to just tell him what they actually are. He must know he just made it up."

Snake sighed. "That doesn't matter. He'll defend his answers to protect himself - both his reputation and his mental state. He doesn't know he was raped, Eagle." He paused. "Actually, he doesn't need to know, does he? We've got his answers on tape. MI6 will know he was tricked into it."

"Fox?" Wolf asked. "We forgetting anything? Don't say anything if we are." Then he remembered it was one way communications.

Silence. Fox nodded.

Right - Cub wasn't looking at him.

"Damn," Snake muttered. "We have to make him prove he was raped, right?" Fox nodded. "So we do have to tell him what rape is."

Wolf thought carefully. An unusual idea leaped into his head - he could force Cub to deduce it on his own. If Cub sort-of taught himself, then he would believe it for sure.

"We should talk about gay sex."

For a moment, no one said anything. Out of context, realised Wolf with a jolt, that statement could carry a number of underlying meanings. _Of all the times to swallow my foot whole_, Wolf thought unhappily. _  
><em>

Although Eagle smirked, he understood what Wolf was getting at. Much more articulately, he elaborated, "What Wolf-man means is that Cub will be forced to realise what gay sex is. Then he'll have to deduce that that other guy had sex with him and come to the conclusion that he was raped. Or we hope so." Once Fox heard the explanation and began talking, Eagle added, "You're welcome."

"Thanks," Wolf muttered grudgingly. Eagle had surgically removed Wolf's foot from his mouth. It left a foul taste anyway.

Shaking his head slightly, Wolf tuned into the audio as Cub became increasingly agitated. From the speakers came a young voice's crescendo. "_No. No way. Ben, what did Tarel do to me? What did he do to me?_" Cub whipped around look at Fox for the answers. Surprisingly, he continued with an unexpected question in an unexpectedly quiet whisper. "_Why didn't you tell me?_"

"_Alex, I-_"

"_No! You're lying to me! You - you're _tricking_ me!_" Fox stood, hands up almost as if he were being held at gunpoint. His gesticulating failed to calm down Cub.

Snake and Eagle were looking at each other, as if to ask for directions. While orders came, it wasn't from each other. "_Stop!_" Cub shouted. Fox looked like he was trying to console him somehow, but Cub had none of it. "_Stop!_" Cub nearly screamed. He was desperate. Snake's chair squealed as he stood. Cub moved towards Fox as he demanded, "_Tell me you're lying!_"

"Oh, shit," Wolf muttered as he raced for the door. Cub had just tackled Fox _and_ knocked over Fox's chair. That would bruise one or both of them, most certainly.

Snake glanced meaningfully at Wolf as Eagle ripped open the door before tearing through it. "The questioning pushed him over the edge."

Always a mediator and simultaneously an instigator, Eagle dutifully noted from ahead that the only reason Wolf suggested manipulative questioning was because Snake didn't like Eagle's blunt tell-him-straight-up suggestion.

They burst into the interrogation room, ready to restrain Cub. The door clattered against the wall, but Cub didn't release Fox. He did, however, stop shouting frantically at the agent at the sound. Cub's ankles were hooked on the chair, and he was resting on his spread knees and hands, which were holding Fox down in a near-choke hold. Yet the grasp was only on the older man's collar, not his throat.

Not yet on his throat, anyway.

Then Cub glanced over at them. His face was stricken with grief until he recognised them.

"Wolf?" he choked out painfully. He rolled off Fox and stood slowly.

Wolf didn't really want to fight the kid. He didn't want to make Cub the victim of a second crime. "Cub," he acknowledged quietly. "Please calm down."

The child agent before him went completely white. He opened his mouth to reply, then snapped it shut and looked at the floor. "Sorry, Ben," he murmured quietly.

Wolf was surprised. Very rarely did people calm down when instructed to do so.

Then Cub brushed past him toward the door. "Wait!" Fox called from the floor as he stood. Eagle seized Cub's arm, and Snake grabbed the other quickly and used his free hand to close the door to the interrogation room. Cub didn't resist. He stumbled for a moment, but then he stood stock still. "There's only one more question, Alex," he said soothingly. "With your new knowledge, can you tell us that you were raped?"

Cub didn't answer. After a pause, he twisted futilely, trying to escape Eagle and Snake's grip. The captors held tighter, and dragged him backwards toward his chair. They sat him down in it.

"Alex?" Fox asked quietly. The recipient did not answer. "Can you tell me what you're thinking, at least?"

Wolf felt some sort of pain when Cub spoke. Youthful voices should not be so heartbroken. "I- I want it back."

"What do you want back, Alex?"

"My-" the kid started. Then he stopped, as if he didn't know what he wanted. Wolf would not have been surprised. He seemed mentally unprepared for this scenario - scratch that, they all were. Though, admittedly, Fox was handling it well. "My ignorance."

"I'm sorry, but I can't erase your memory," Fox replied sincerely. Wolf realised suddenly that Fox was trying to keep the kid calm.

Cub looked up at Fox. He looked scared at his own question. "Am I still a virgin?"

"No," Fox answered softly.

Wolf looked between the two. Cub had a look of intense sorrowful contemplation, and Fox was waiting for another question.

"Does your virginity mean a lot to you?" Wolf asked gently to his own surprise.

Cub looked up at him, startled by the new voice. "Should it?"

That was a perplexing question. Should virginity matter? Wolf wasn't sure. Fox didn't look like he had an answer either.

"I don't know," Wolf said.

"Can I have it back?"

"No," Fox answered.

Cub looked like he was trying not to cry. His forehead was creased and his fists were clenched. Tendons were clearly visible in his neck, revealing his muscular tension.

Despite what Fox said, Wolf wasn't sure he agreed. Then Cub asked again. "Please?"

Before Fox got a chance to answer, Wolf interrupted, "I think it's a matter of opinion."

* * *

><p>AN: Hey, just so y'all know, I did not experience "The Talk" while being restrained. Sure, it was (and still is) awkward, but no where near this fic's awkwardness. Or its dark situation. I'm just a normal person here. No one special.<p>

If you wanna be special to me, though, drop a review to drop your anonymity!


	5. Chapter 5

"_I think it's a matter of opinion_."

Eagle readjusted his grip on Cub's wrist and shoulder. Then he cocked an eyebrow at Wolf.

Why had Wolf spoken up? Wolf himself wasn't sure.

"How so?" Cub asked in that broken, mournful tone. His voice sounded as if it was coated with some kind of viscous tar: thick and distorted.

Wolf swallowed and glanced at Fox, who was staring him down disapprovingly. No wonder there - Fox probably thought Wolf was playing with Cub's emotions.

But he wasn't.

"If you had sex, you're not a virgin physically," Wolf stated slowly. "But, if it was unknowingly or unwillingly, you're still a virgin at heart, I'd think. Or mind or soul. Or something like that..." He trailed off uncertainly.

A new voice joined the conversation. "I agree with Wolf," Snake murmured quietly.

Cub's head whipped to the side to see who had spoken. Then, very slowly, his gaze traveled to the floor by his own feet. Blankness covered his face now - he seemed like a shell compared to the boy they had met in training. He said nothing, reflecting his hollowness.

"Alex?" Fox asked again. "Were you raped?"

Wolf studied Cub's face. The table was between them, but there wasn't much space between them. Somehow, Cub was expressionless. He seemed to have shut down. It was like a computer had turned off. Not even one light was flickering. He was dark.

"Do you have any more questions about sex?" Wolf asked as softly as he could. Cub shook his head and blinked a few times.

Eagle let go of Cub's arm. Wolf had to agree - Cub didn't need to be restrained anymore. Snake followed suit. They stood on either side of Wolf and Fox. The four of them were lined up across the table from the boy, who hadn't so much as twitched when they released him. K-Unit and Cub.

_A reunion_, Wolf thought, _of the worst circumstance_.

"I'm sorry this happened to you," Eagle said quietly. When Cub didn't respond and the others looked at him, he shrugged. "I just wanted to put that out there. None of us wanted this to happen to Cub."

Snake looked back at the boy. He had glanced upwards for a moment - somewhere near the table's edge - but he dropped his eyes to the floor quickly. "You know that it's not your fault, right, Alex?" Snake asked gently. "The victim is _never_ to blame," he added. "It doesn't matter if you put yourself in a situation to be taken advantage of. The rapist is to blame. He's at fault - not you."

Wolf wondered why Snake said that. It didn't seem to fit the moment. Later, he would find out Snake had known someone in Cub's shoes, handled it poorly, and learned better ways to handle it. He wasn't as unprepared as Wolf thought they all were. The knowledge would leave them wondering if MI6 knew. Even so, that was the future.

Now, Cub crossed his arms and hugged himself. It was the biggest reaction they'd seen since he shut down.

"You'll get through this," Snake continued sincerely and reassuringly. Wolf could see the heart Snake projected into his words and actions. He was more human than Wolf had ever seen him before. "It'll never leave you, but you'll get through this. You may not be the same, but you'll still be Alex."

Eagle agreed, "Snake's right." Wolf found himself nodding.

Fox swallowed. Wolf could hear the measured out emotion in his voice. Not too much pity, not too much pressure. A delicate balance. "I still need an answer, Alex. We know you and Tarel had sex from the medical evidence. We just need to confirm that you were unwilling."

Wolf bit his lower lip before contradicting Fox again. It unnerved him to argue with the agent - his former unit-mate. "'S not a matter of unwillingness, anymore, is it? He didn't know. Maybe he enjoyed what Tarel did to him but didn't know what it really meant. What it really was, I mean. That's a different form of sexual abuse, I think."

Fox looked at him and smiled grimly. "Yes, that would be."

"Our objective is only to show that Cub was telling the truth about Tarel's plans," Eagle pointed out. He was looking at the bigger picture, as per his usual. Wolf was suddenly grateful for Eagle's bluntness. It was very efficient and left little room for doubt.

Fox nodded. "Well, Alex?"

"He already said he said the truth," Eagle answered.

Wolf studied Cub closely. He was still unreadable, like a book written in some language Wolf had never heard of. Being asked to read it only served to frustrate Wolf - it got him nowhere.

"I'll go turn off the recording equipment," Snake said hurriedly. He left the room. No one watched him leave.

Wolf continued to try reading the stone-faced child. Then, without warning, an English word leaked out of his eye.

_Teardrop_.

The interrogators looked at each other, trying to come to a consensus: what now? Fox looked ready to die miserably; Eagle, disconcerted and remorseful. Neither made any sign of having a clue what to do.

Wolf could only imagine what he looked like.

A small _plop_ led his eyes from his teammates to Cub. His teardrop had plummeted onto some part of his shirt.

Fox's voice came from somewhere next to Wolf. "Alex, I'm s-"

"Shut up," Cub whispered.

Wolf glanced at Fox. His mouth was still open from his incomplete platitude. Wolf suddenly had a feeling of déjà vu. Then Fox licked his lips, closing his mouth. He sighed heavily. "Then, do you want to-"

"Go away," said Cub, this time far more loudly and clearly.

"-go home?"

A pause.

"No."

The memory came to Wolf sharply. His mother had acted toward his father at his grandmother's funeral the exact same way Cub was acting toward Fox now. The disbelief, anger, depression... it was all there. And the wanting to stay at the funeral.

And what had Wolf done? Nothing. He had stood there and watched his mother's coldness toward anyone and everyone who approached her. It was much, much later that she had confessed to Wolf how she really had felt that day: scared, embarrassed, and, above all, in need of a shoulder to cry on.

Without words, Wolf walked around the table. He could feel his unit-mates' eyes on him, questioning. And he, too, was questioning about what he was about to do.

Cub looked up when Wolf stood directly in front of him. They made eye contact, just as Wolf had with his mother on that mournful day so many years prior.

They both had brown eyes.

Similar situations.

Same look.

Wolf took a deep breath. Then he very slowly reached out and touched Cub's upper arms with his fingertips, as if asking for permission. The eye contact remained, even as Wolf gently spread his fingers and squeezed softly. He could feel Cub's upper-arm muscles slowly relaxing under his delicate touch.

Cub broke their connection by looking down as a second tear dribbled out of his other eye. At least he hadn't twisted away, Wolf figured. He didn't mind being touched, even after his ordeal, it seemed.

Taking that as his cue, Wolf swiftly slid his hands from Cub's arms to his chest's sides. Just as the boy raised his own arms to defend himself or something of that nature, Wolf yanked him out of his seat and pulled him to his own chest, trapping the smaller wrists between them, elbows askew, by holding him closely. Cub released a squeaky whimper.

Fox had walked around the table as well, and now he walked into Wolf's peripheral vision. "Wolf, what are you doing?" he asked sharply. "He was just raped!"

"And why should Wolf act differently?" Snake retorted, causing Cub to stiffen. Apparently, he hadn't registered the soldier's return. Wolf hadn't, either. "This is all unrecorded, by the way."

"Because..." Fox paused, and Snake interrupted.

"We should respect his feelings?" Snake's face contorted as Wolf looked over. His voice dropped in volume but upped in sincerity. "He needs someone to trust. Did you consider that right now he might _want_ to be held? To feel secure?"

"I just..." Fox started. Then he looked at Cub and shook his head. "I didn't see it like that."

Wolf looked down at Cub. Somehow, the child sensed the new gaze, and he looked up, reconnecting their eyes. Cub's were uncertain and sad.

Then Wolf realised Cub's elbows were still imitating a chicken.

Very slowly, Wolf slid his arms down Cub's back to let his arms down. Cub stiffened dramatically at the new gesture, and his eyes, still directed at Wolf's, widened like a waxing moon.

"Wolf..." Fox murmured quietly. He'd clearly noticed Cub's less-than-favorable reaction.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Wolf whispered to the boy wrapped up in his arms. At those words, Cub pushed on his chest - _hard_. But not hard enough to break Wolf's embrace. He only succeeded in leaning backward.

"No," Cub muttered brokenly. "Stop. Let go of me." He wasn't looking at Wolf's face anymore.

Fox's anxiety was obvious, despite his previous admissions. "Wolf, I don't think that's a good idea anymore."

Despite the negative response, Wolf found himself studying Cub further. The more he looked, the less he saw adding up.

Hurt, tired, scared...

Embarrassed...

Instead of listening to Fox's protests, Wolf pressed Cub's head into his chest with one hand, leaving the other around his waist. He could feel the boy struggling.

"No," Wolf whispered into Cub's ear. The child stilled at the vocalisation of doubt. "I don't believe you." Wolf let that sink in for a moment before saying something he'd never thought he'd ever say in a voice more delicate than ever before: "It's okay to cry, sometimes."

Just as he'd wished he'd held his mother years before, Wolf held Cub closely when he let out the first sob.

* * *

><p>AN: Hey, everybody! <strong>Thanks for sticking this out with me<strong>. I hope y'all liked it. I'm aiming for bittersweet, sweetie. The moral of the story is to give hugs when people need them.

Some things I wanna tell y'all:

1. I loosely based Alex's reaction on the 5 stages of grief because I haven't had any experience with rape victims or great tragedies in my memory. The five stages of grief are: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. The idea is that Alex was left off in the fourth stage but will reach the fifth someday. It's 'cause his virginity is dead, so to speak. I also couldn't figure how to put such emotions in Alex's own words. That's why, with the exception of part of an earlier chapter, this is written from Wolf's point of view. Mostly why, anyway.

2. I had some ideas about the characters beforehand. Wolf's character is supposed to be unsure about the pervading topic but caring yet brusque. Ben is supposed to be very much on-the-ball and professional. Eagle is supposed to be straightforward and somewhat outspoken. Snake is supposed to be the most supportive and knowledgeable about the situation.

3. Yes, Alex is out of character. I don't know about you, but I'd be out of character if I'd just found out something horrific had happened to me without my knowing it.

4. I'm not continuing this. I'm certain. Please don't ask me to, because I couldn't promise to complete it. If anyone else writes a continuation, let me know and I'll put a link to your story in a new chapter.

5. The title is a pun. "Debriefed" is like debriefing, but if you "de-brief" someone's briefs, well, you just took off their undies.

So yeah. That's it. **Did you like it?** (And do you agree with Wolf's opinion about virginity? I do!)


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